A New Crisis
by tragicmat1
Summary: <html><head></head>Disasters struck Earth two thousands years ago. Dangers are rising again, and heroes are needed to protect humanity once more.</html>
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Oracion Seis

"What is this?" Everybody was gathered inside the main hall in Fairy Tail. A diagram was drawn in front of them filled with words and lines.

"It's an organization chart of the Dark Guilds." Standing next to the diagram was Mirajane with a long pointing stick. She was the one that started the gathering at the guild master's request, and thus she was in charge of explaining what was going on as well.

"When you look at it like this, there's quite a few of them." Erza's already started to work out in her mind why they were being gathered. Recently, she had noted the strange activities going on with the Dark Guilds in her travels.

"Lately, their activities have increased. Forbidden magic are being used again, sealed demons and items are being unlocked. Their forces are too widespread around Earthland, and we must strengthen the bonds between the Light Guilds." Mirajane paused for a second for questions.

Gray raised his hand to point at the diagram and spoke up, "What are those big ovals in the circle for?"

"Juvia knows. They represent the Baram alliance," said Juvia. Back when she was considered an S class mage in Phantom Lord, she have had many jobs dealing with dark guilds. She has never had the chance to meet any of the top three dark guilds though. "The Baram alliance consists of the most powerful force of Dark Guilds: Oracion Seis, Tartaros, and finally Grimoire Heart. Each of them has their own number of associated guilds and they control the world of Dark Guilds. The last guild that acts independently from the rest is Raven Tail."

"Huh? Eisenwald…" Lucy saw the name of the guild on the chart.

"Yes, the guild Erigor was in." Erza recognized how dangerous the dark guilds could be if they worked together. Just Eisenwald themselves managed to steal the dark artifact, lullaby, in their attempted assassination of the guild masters.

"So that's one of the guilds associated with Oracion Seis, right?" Gray followed the lines on the chart. It was drawn in a simplistic way and easy to understand.

"Aren't some of those guilds official guilds before?" Macao scrutinized the diagram with his eyes to make sure he was reading the guild names correctly. There were a couple guilds he worked with before. Mirajane saw all the questions and comments springing up explained to everyone the different dark guilds on the list. She also mentioned some of the guilds that were destroyed either by their own guild or other light guilds.

"All the guilds Juvia destroyed while I was in Phantom were all from Oracion Seis." Juvia spoke in a light tone, happy to explain her accomplishments in front of Gray.

"I hope they aren't angry…" Lucy shivered a little, trying to comprehend how strong one of the bosses of the dark guilds are if Erigor was already so powerful.

"Don't worry! I heard they only have six members." Wakaba spoke with his pipe in his mouth, trying to reassure Lucy.

"Damn, how small is that guild?" asked Macao. Fairy Tail almost had ten times that many members. Granted, they were one of the largest guilds in Earthland with Phantom Lord destroyed, an average guild still had thirty to forty members.

"But even with six members, they managed to reign at the top." Mirajane reminded everybody of their powers. The fact they were able to control so many minor dark guilds gave a look at their prowess. There was no argument against that; many dark guilds respected only power and they would never bow down to anybody weaker than them.

"About Oracion Seis," Makarov walked in behind everybody from the entrance. He had just returned from a meeting with other guild leaders. "We are going to go attack them."

Natsu, who was eating during the entire lecture, finally showed a little interest at the master's declaration. The rest of the guild was showing a mixture of emotions ranging from shock to excitement.

"Master, what do you mean by that?" Erza went through the crowd and went in front of Makarov. Attacking a guild filled with S class mages was no easy joke.

"At the regular meeting yesterday, the guild masters discussed the recent activities of Oracion Seis." The master's eyes took a stern look as his faced the rest of the guild. "They can no longer be ignored, so several guilds were chosen to fight them."

"So Fairy Tail will be the once to take care of them?" Juvia have heard of how terrifyingly strong Oracion Seis members were, and wondered if Fairy Tail would be able to handle it.

"No, Oracion Seis is too strong." Makarov walked down the stairs at the entrance and got closer to everybody. "If all of us leave to go attack, then our guild will be left unguarded. That is why, at the meeting, we have formed an alliance ourselves."

"An alliance?" Some guild members spluttered out. Alliances between guilds were rare, almost nonexistent. Most of the time alliances just weren't necessary. Any big task would be left to the bigger guilds such as Fairy Tail and Phantom (now destroyed), and the tasks gets completed most of the time with the guilds own S class mages.

"Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Cait Shelter," the master started listing off. "These four guilds will send out members to take out Oracion Seis."

"Hey! We could take out these guys ourselves." Natsu pointed at himself with his thumb. "Actually, I could probably take out these guys myself."

A metal gauntlet hit Natsu in the head. "You idiot, master is thinking of the consequences afterwards."

Lucy went into a slight panic attack again. She was hoping for another amazing adventure with Fairy Tail soon, but not exterminating Dark Guilds. A four guild alliance to defeat one guild…this was really dangerous! "Wait! The enemy only has six enemies, right? How crazy powerful are these people then?"

-000-

"I can hear it, the sound of darkness breaking the light." A brown haired man stood atop a hill, rubbing his snake passionately. Next to him were five other members, staring down at the forest blackened by dark magic. One of them was sitting on a magic carpet though and remained asleep.

"Don't be so impatient, Cobra," said a man with a yellow hair spiked up in the center. "Well, being quick might not be such a bad thing though."

"That magic we are talking about is hidden here, Racer," said Cobra while turning his head toward the voice. This was one of the biggest jobs their guild has done in a while. He could barely hold in his excitement.

"A magic that will bring about darkness and break all light. Yes!" This man held a book with a Jewel symbol on it.

"Nirvana…" said a white haired girl in the background.

A staff with a skull stomped onto the ground. The wind around the area picked up a little as the bell rung a soft chime. "The legendary magic will finally be ours." The main swung his staff toward the forest below. "Look, the land has already started to die from this powerful magic, just because Nirvana is nearby. And that power will soon be ours."

-000-

Lucy was looking at the wagon she was in for the hundredth time. Gray was sitting next to her actually with his clothes on. Erza kept watch by peering out the window. Natsu just looked half dead with Happy on top of him. "I feel like something bad is going to happen soon. Actually, why am I participating in this again?"

"It's not a fun thing for me to do either, you know." Gray heard Lucy's rambling and told her of his opinions. He wasn't battle hungry like Natsu was and didn't really want to go fight some crazy dark guilds. "Stop complaining."

"Master chose us four as representatives. Shouldn't we be happy he trusts us with this duty?" Erza told the group her own thoughts. They needed to strengthen their resolve or they won't last in the fight.

Lucy gave a resigned look at that. She respected Erza too much to counter her argument. There was still one thing she didn't understand though. "What about Juvia and Gajeel? Both of them are better fighters than me."

"Those two have their own jobs to do too." Happy chewed on his fish while Natsu lost more vitality on the wagon.

"Are….we…..there….yet?"

"In the end, it's the usual gang then." Lucy finally understood one point though. Erza, Gray, Natsu, and she have been on many different missions already. While they aren't listed in the registry as an official team yet, they basically were with all the missions they took together. It was probably a smart idea to placed people that were used to working together rather than just sending their strongest attack force. Besides, they have plenty of firepower as things were now.

"This will be the first time we are teaming up with other guilds. It's important for us to form good ties with other guilds." With all the years Erza has been in Fairy Tail, cooperating with other guilds was a first for her too.

"I can see it!" said Happy. "There's the meeting place." It was a large mansion with heart shaped windows. The exterior was painted pink and a fancy looking wooden door was in the front. It was in the middle of a forest, so that made it hard to track too if one didn't know where they were going.  
>As the group entered the building, they noticed various statues placed in line in the building. The only major light source in the building came from the window out front. In such a large mansion, it was hardly enough.<p>

"What a creepy looking place," said Lucy. If they looked closely, there were actually tiny lit candles disperse around the building.

"This is the villa of the Blue Pegasus's Master Bob," replied Erza as if that would explain the strangeness of the villa. An image of Master Bob sent shivers to everybody. "He's said to be able to even give our Master a challenge if they fight."

"I sssseee," stuttered Lucy. A hug from that cross dressing male was something she would never forget.

"Welcome!" Three voices appeared out of nowhere as they started singing. Bells were being rung to add to the beat. "You're here! You're here! You're here! Fairy – Fairy, Tail – Tail, people!" A spotlight appeared in front of the gang, and three men in black suits stood there in different poses. "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Lucy stood in place in shock as she saw the three men. She just barely got the image of Master Bob out of her head and more strange people showed up.

"We are-"

"the representative sent by-"

"Blue Pegasus." Each of the Blue Pegasus members said their part in the line as rehearsed. They finished the last part together. "We are the Trimens!"

"Hibiki of the Hundred Nights!" The spotlight focused on the first man. His light brown hair dazzled under stars while he kept both hands in front of himself in a pose. A small heart could almost be seen coming out of his eye as he winked.

"Eve of the Holy Night." The smallest of the Trimens placed an innocent looking face on and pointed his index and middle fingers on one hand toward the audience.

"Ren of the Silent Night." The last of the Trimens kept his hands on his face. He had black hair and was far tanner than both Eve and Hibiki combined.

"Trimens from the Blue Pegasus?" Lucy had stars in her eyes. A blush unconsciously crept onto her face. "How cool! And the one called Hibiki, he's always ranked at the top in the 'I wish he was my boy friend' in the Weekly Sorcerer. You are Hibiki Laytis!"

Hibiki smiled and posed a little more at his fan. As a special service, he gave an even bigger heart wink to Lucy.

'What are they, a host club?' thought Gray. He looked down at himself and screamed out, "Crap! I forgot to put on my clothes again."

Natsu stayed in his corner, still trying to get through the motion sickness from the trip. "Blrghrhghh"

Lucy gave a sigh at the difference between the guild members. "Our guys are hopeless…"

The spotlight was focused on Hibiki again. He held out his hand toward Erza. "Wow, You are even more beautiful than rumors."

Next to Erza, Eve was on one of his knee and gave a subservient bow."How are you, Titania."

"Now, come this way." Ren came from behind Erza, and the Trimens effectively surrounded Erza in a triangle.

A couch with a hair symbol was quickly placed, and Hibiki held Erza by her hands and led her over. "Have a hot towel."

Eve continued their service by bringing over a table filled with food and drinks. "Are you thirsty at all? We have some cake too."

"No… I'll pass." Erza just sat their confused.

Lucy looked at Erza's treatment and actually got a little jealous. "What is going on here?"

"Now, you have a seat too." Ren walked up to Lucy, making sure a lady wasn't left out. He slipped his hands on Lucy's waist. "And wow, you are just really cute."

"What are these people," said Gray. They were like expert hosts.

Erza looked at Eve and said in a stern voice, "Let's work together. We need to combine our strengths in order to-"

"How cute." Eve couldn't prevent his own blush and interrupted Erza. "Your demeanor is just wonderful. I've always looked up to you."

On the other side, Ren slid an orange drink over to Lucy. He turned away a little from embarrassment. "It's not like I made it especially for you or anything. "

"Now he's a tsundere?" Shocking events just came one after another for Lucy.

"Come. You must be tired after the long journey. Spend tonight with us." The sparkly aura around Hibiki never disappeared as he made his offer to the girls.

"Forever." The Trimens finished the last word together.

Their show didn't last long, however, as the attention was suddenly shifted toward the right. "Guests, stay right where you are."

"What is with that silky voice?" Lucy doesn't know if she could withstand another strange event again. The voice sounded too perfect though.

"It's Ichiya-sama," said Ren.

"I-Ichiya?" Erza knew this man, and his strangeness was on par with Master Bob.

"It's been a while, Erza-san." Ichiya carefully stroke the blue rose on his tuxedo. He slowly walked toward the group.

"I can't believe it, you are joining us?" Erza's shivering could be visibly seen now.

"I've long to meet you, my honey." Ichiya was very short, even shorter than Natsu. He had a butt chin and his face was shiny enough to reflect light. His jumped on to the handles of the stairs and glided down like an ice skater. "What a truly-"

"What a truly-" The Trimens chorused behind Ichiya out of reverence.

"Remarkable."

"Remarkable."

"Reunion!" Ichiya finished sliding down, and gave a swan pose.

"Reunion!" The Trimens were opening party crackers

"Wasshoi."

"Wasshoi."

"Wasshoi"

"Wasshoi!" The Trimens clapped as they continued their chant. "So you're Ichiya-sama's girlfriend? How rude of us." They gave a bow showing their apologies to Erza.

This was finally the breaking point for Erza. A fire was lit up in Erza, and she pointed at the Trimens with authority. "I deny it with all my might!"

"Clean up. You didn't come here to play." Ichiya lectured the Trimens.

"Yes boss." In a quick sprint, the Trimens started to clean up the things they brought out earlier.

"I've heard about you." Ichiya gave a serene smile at the girls. His huge nose started sniffing the air. "Erza-san, Lucy-san, and the rest. Excellent Parfum."

Lucy now understood why Erza acted the way she did when she heard Ichiya's name. This man was sniffing her like a dog! "You're freaking me out, you know."

Erza backed up a little herself from Ichiya, leaving Lucy to fend herself. "Sorry, I can't really handle him either. He may be an awesome wizard, but…"

"Hey, you Blue Pegasus boy-toys." Gray couldn't stand their fiasco anymore. "How about you stop hitting on our princess, huh?"

"You can go home, you men." Ichiya didn't have any patience with males.

Gray was ready to explode in anger at that point. They were here to exterminate Oracion Seis, not for a tea party. "They send losers like you on these missions? I could destroy you in a fight."

"Try us." Ren had a look of complete confidence. Despite his playful acts, there were very few mages that were stronger than him, besides the famous ones.

"A fight? Let me join too!" Natsu's motion sickness was all but gone by now. The both sides stared at each other, raising tension as they wouldn't back down. Surprisingly, the first to show violence was Erza, who actually punched Ichiya for being so close to her and sniffing with his oversize nose.

"Men!" Ichiya was sent flying toward the door, but was caught easily by a hand. A layer of ice started to form on his head.

"You all sure know how to put on a greeting." At the door in a fur coat, Lyon stood next to two other of his guild mates. "Don't even think you can match up with Lamia Scale."

"Don't forget about me too, Carpet Doll!" Sherry used her attack to cause Lucy to slip. It was a sneak attack, but anything against Lucy was always fun for Sherry. "You need to learn more about, love."

"That's enough, you two." Serving as the pillar in the center was Jura Nekis. He was without a doubt the strongest of the three, being a member of the Ten Wizard Saints. "We are making an alliance to fight against Oracion Seis. This is not the time to fight amongst ourselves."

"Jura," acknowledge Lyon. He met this man when he joined Lamia Scale, and had utmost respect for him. After the battle against Fairy Tail, Lyon and Sherry had left in search of a guild as Gray suggested. When they met Jura and his overwhelming power in Lamia Scale, they knew which guild they wanted to join.

"He's the ace of Lamia Scale, Rockiron Jura," said Hibiki. Everybody calmed down in his presence, which oozed power and authority.

"Even I've heard of him before," said Lucy. The ten wizard saints were the ten most powerful wizards in the world, as chosen by the Chairman of the Magic Council.

"With this, three guilds have arrived." Jura took control of the situation, and started accessing their situation to prepare themselves. "All that's left are those from Caitshelter."

"People? I heard there was only one person." Ichiya continued to stare lecherously at Erza even though he was hanging from the tip of her spear.

"They only sent one person for a mission as dangerous as this?" asked Gray. They were going up against S class mages. To send one person would either mean they were reckless or the person was ridiculously strong.

"Oh my goodness. How crazy powerful is this guy?" Lucy was freaking out once more. She was in the presence of too many powerful wizards. There was Ichiya, Erza, and finally Jura. All the rest of them were at least A-class as well. She herself still hasn't done enough missions to be officially categorized, but she estimated with Leo now she was only high B class.

"Kya!" At the entrance, a small girl with blue hair fell down on her face. "Ow… It hurts." She patted her dress clean and smiled at the crowd. "Sorry I was late everybody. I'm Wendy, from Caitshelter. It's nice to meet everybody." A white cat hovered around behind her.

-000-

Lucy watched the battles start on the ground in fear. Everything was Natsu's fault. Without thinking, he took off on his own to search for the enemy, leaving them vulnerable against attacks. Oracion Seis was even stronger than what she imagined. Natsu and Gray were easily hit by a guy named Racer, who would literally move so fast she couldn't keep up with her eyes. Amongst their ranks was somebody who kept disguising themselves and could even use their own powers against them. Lyon and Sherry were trapped in the ground by some money loving freak. Even the Trimens were knocked down within seconds by Racer. They still had three members that haven't bothered to fight, and one of them was sleeping. To make matters worse, Ichiya and Jura still wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"**Requip**!" The last one still in good condition was Erza. With a leap, she jumped over to Cobra and his purple snake. She quickly changed into her favorite armor, and summoned countless swords behind her. "Go forth, my blades."

"I can hear you." Without breaking a sweat, Cobra dodged all thirty swords easily.

"What?" Erza didn't expect her attack to work too easily, but the man just dodged them  
>like they were moving in slow motion. "He read and dodged that many swords?" Sensing a presence behind her, Erza quickly turned around to block a kick from Racer.<p>

"Fast is good!" Racer quickly vanished and tried to attack again at Erza's back.

"**Requip! Soaring Armor.**" This armor boosted her speeds to extreme levels. She needed every extra bit of speed she could get in order to match Racer.

"Whoa, you are fast." Despite the complement, Racer had no trouble dodging every swipe. "Fast is good."

"I can hear you, Titania." Cobra took his chance and appeared behind Erza. With a quick spin, Cobra landed a kick onto Erza's side, sending her crashing into the ground. "Your next move that is."  
>"I knew it, he's predicting me," thought Erza.<p>

"Predicting you? No. I told you, I can hear you."

"Damnit," said Natsu. He got knocked down way too quickly. Looking up ahead, he saw a man sleeping on a carpet. "Hey, what the heck! Why are you sleeping? Wake up, you bastard." Blowing up his cheeks, he let out a fire dragon roar. However, rather than burning Midnight to a crisp, the attack curved around him and missed him completely. It didn't even make him flinch as Midnight continued to sleep silently on his carpet.

"Stop it." Racer appeared behind Natsu and sent another kick forward. "You don't want to wake that guy up." Racer dashed in circles around him and landed a barrage of kicks and punches onto Natsu.

Lyon and Sherry got up and tried to fight again, but were crushed quickly under Hot Eye's magic. Hot Eye's magic range was too far, and the area he could cover at once was too large. Gray was ambushed once again by Ice Make magic. A replica of him sneaked away while giggling.

Over to the size, Erza quickly recovered from the kick, and jumped up to take hits at Cobra. "So this is Erza Scarlet." Brain looked at the fight with interest. She was just as powerful as the rumors.

Cobra continued to dodge Erza's attacks with ease before finally stopping her by holding onto both her elbows. "I can hear your movement - your breathing, the contraction and expansion of your muscles, and even your very thoughts." He placed his forehead onto Erza's to listen more closely than before. What he saw, however, made him gasp and pull away. "I see, you too huh?"

Erza didn't know why Cobra hesitated but readied her two swords in response. "You're open!"

"I saw it. Yes!" Erza had gotten through Cobra's defenses, and was about to follow through her attack but Hot Eye protected Cobra by sending a wall of dirt in between them, knocking Erza into the air once more.

"Cobra, what are you waiting for?" Racer continued the attack and kicked Erza even higher.

"Fine, fine. Sorry. Cubellios!" On command, the purple snake around Cobra shot forward and took a bite on Erza's left arm. Her arm turned purple from the poison, pulsing every second as the body tried to get rid of the foreign substance. "Cubellios's poison doesn't take effect immediately. It lets you live a while longer in pain."

With Erza's fall, everybody in the alliance was on the ground. Brain brought forth his staff and prepared his attack to kill the fallen mages. "Trash, disappear from here."

"The atmosphere is shaking," Hibiki grunted out, and knew that whatever it was, they probably won't survive it.

Green magical power started to collect in the atmosphere, all of it condensing into the purple magic circle in front of brain. "Dark Rondo."

The attack was ready; however, a small girl hiding behind a boulder caught his attention. With his concentration broken, the attack stopped as well. "Wendy…"

-000-

"I'm borrowing your belt." Erza's swift motions startled Lucy, as her skirt fell down without the support of her leather belt. Within a second, the members from Blue Pegasus got closer to get a better view.

"Stay away, you pervert!" It was miraculous what a girl in distress could do. With a big leap, Lucy managed to drop kick all three of the Trimen in one go.

The sound of a sword slashing into the ground pulled everyone's attention. "Sorry. I can't fight like this. Cut my arm off." Erza proceeded to stuff her mouth to brace herself for the pain. It was the only way to stop the poison from spreading more and it would allow her to fight, even if it's only with one arm.

"Don't be stupid!" cried out Gray in disbelief. Erza was somebody that relied on her sword skills to fight. Chopping off one would be disastrous for her career as a mage.

"Please, somebody help me."

"Understood." Lyon pulled the sword out of the ground. "I will do it."

"Lyon, don't." Gray walked in between Lyon and Erza. There was no way he'd let somebody cut off Erza's arm.

"Lyon, are you really serious?" asked Lucy. Cutting off Erza's arm was too cruel.

"You Fairies are such weaklings!" Sherry hasn't liked Lucy since they fought, and hearing her talk annoyed her too much. "At this rate Erza will die. This is Lyon-sama's love."

"If you are going to do it, hurry up. Right now the poison is spreading around my body. I can't hold on much longer." Erza has already closed her eyes and gritted her teeth in pain.

"Stop it Lyon!"

"No, we cannot allow you to put harm on a lady's body," said Hibiki. "There must be some other way."

"This is Erza's wish." Jura stopped the Trimens from intervening more.

"Here I go." Lyon held the sword up high, and started to swing downwards at the arm. However, it was stopped midair by Gray's ice. "Gray, you value her arm more than her life?"

"There must be another way. Don't jump to conclusions." Gray stood strong and refused to move an inch. "I was a fool to think you have changed a little."

Erza could no longer hold her arm out, and collapsed from the poison. Lucy ran up to check on her. "This is bad; at this rate, the poison will spread throughout her body."

"Wendy can save her." Everybody turned over to the small white cat, Charles. After Wendy's capture by Oracion Seis, Charles knew she didn't have enough power to save Wendy. If she could make her rescue sound appealing, then the other members in the alliance would risk their necks to save Wendy. "Her powers were taught by the Sky Dragon, Grandine. She can heal Erza. This is not a time for us to be fighting amongst ourselves. We need to hurry up and save Wendy, and the male cat."

"That little girl can cure the poison? Amazing," said Eve. Healing magic was considered Lost Magic, and Wendy's magic seems to be far stronger then Ichiya's parfums, according the cat.

"Not just poison. She can cure fevers, stop pain, and heal injuries. She's the Sky Dragon Slayer."

Finally the words that Wendy was taught by Grandine registered in Natsu's head. "A Dragon Slayer?"

"I'll tell you the details later, although I don't really need to. Right now we need to save Wendy. Also, I don't really know why, but they seem to need her as well."

With that, the group's next goal was decided. They will put everything they have into saving Wendy. Natsu let out a cheer and pumped his fist. "Alright, let's go!"

-000-

"So Brain, why did we need this girl?" Brain let up his attack after seeing this girl, allowing Jura and Ichiya to catch up. Nevertheless, even if they were being attacked by Jura and Ichiya earlier, Cobra still didn't understand why they retreated. They could've easily killed all the people from the Light Guilds.

"This girl possesses one of the **Lost Magic, Healing Magic**. I have someone I want her to resurrect," explained Brain. In truth, it may have been a blunder on his part to let the light guilds live, but he got overexcited seeing Wendy here. In the end though, he knew the people they just beat won't prove to be any challenge to them, especially with Erza already poisoned.

"I won't heal any bad people," cried out Wendy defiantly.

"Oh ho? Perhaps you might want to take a look at who I want you to heal before you make your decision." Racer had retrieved the casket, and brought it behind Brain. With a small muttering, Brain started to unravel to seals on it. Fog started to fill the room as the casket creaked open. Inside the casket was a blue haired man with a tattoo on the right side of his face.

"Jellal..."

-000-

"Gray! What are you doing?" Lucy watched Gray trap Natsu onto a raft. "Have you fallen to the darkness?" She was told the truth about Nirvana's nature. This was a super powerful magic that can change the personality of people.

"I'll save you Natsu!" Happy flew directly at Natsu, but was turned into a block of ice.

"Happy has flying capabilities. He can carry up to one person. He has no offensive abilities. Information gathering completed." Gray listed off Happy's powers like he was reading off a piece of paper.

"What are you talking about, Gray? Wake up already." Lucy was scared of Gray, and she didn't want to be forced to fight one of her own guild mates.

"Is this what happens when somebody falls victim to Nirvana?" Hibiki had hoped that members from the Light Guilds won't fall victim to the Dark so easily, but it looked like it was a false hope.

"Lucy as seen by Gray. A newcomer to the guild. Has very good looks. Somewhat interested in her."

"What the heck?" Steam started to rise from Lucy's head as she blushed profusely.

Gray continued with his analysis. "More naïve than at first glance. A celestial spirit wizard. Spirits, eh? How interesting!" He sent a wave of ice straight at Lucy.

"No, you aren't Gray." Hibiki went in front of the ice's path and blocked it with his Archive magic. Nirvana only changed personality, but it was like Gray was meeting Lucy for the first time. "Who are you?"

"Hibiki as seen by Gray. A member of Blue Pegasus. Handsome. Hmm, lack of information, huh?"

Those that fall victim to Nirvana are those with gaps between darkness and light. Gray wasn't the type to have those kinds of feelings. Lucy also realized the person in front of her wasn't Gray. "Who are you?"

Gray started laughing at Lucy's declaration, and exploded into a cloud of smoke. Where Gray was once standing was now a perfect replication of Lucy.

"Are you dumb? Even if you changed into Lucy, you won't fool us." Hibiki still had to stop himself from staring at her chest though.

"Really? Men like you have a soft spot for women though, right?" The doppelganger lifted her shirt up, revealing Lucy's boobs completely naked.

"Maybe you are right." Sagittarius and Hibiki said together, a tiny bit of drool escaped from their mouths.

"Ahh!" To Lucy, this had to be some sort of sexual harassment. She back kicked Sagittarius and Hibiki into the air for staring at her double's boobs.

"Spirit information gathering complete," said the doppelganger. "Oh wow, you have a lot of keys. You even met the Spirit King? Your magical power is quite high too." The replica of Lucy gave a glance at Sagittarius. "Well Sagittarius, if you would?"

Hibiki was shot from right next to him immediately. Sagittarius looked at his arm in horror. "I can't control myself. It's not me. I would never do something like that."

"Hibiki, hang in there!" Lucy gauged Hibiki's injury. He was cut up in many different places, and was completely battered up from the unexpected attack. Lucy turned over to the doppelganger. "Are you controlling my spirits?"

"Yes. Right now I can do everything you can." The doppelganger ordered Sagittarius to fire at Hibiki more, but it was blocked by the archive shield.

"Charle, take Wendy and escape. This is dangerous," ordered Lucy. She wasn't faring much better herself though.

Charle –while carrying Wendy- took off into the air immediately. "I would've even if you didn't tell me."  
>"Sagittarius, I'm going to force the gate shut. Take a break for now" This wasn't the first time Lucy fought somebody that could control her spirits, but luckily she had already learned to counter that ability.<p>

"I truly apologize, Moshimoshi." He disappeared in a yellow glow back to the spirit world.

"In that case, **Open, Gate of the Archer, Sagittarius**." The doppelganger even had a copy of the key and summoned Sagittarius once more. Lucy could only stare in shock.

"You called? Moshimoshi." Sagittarius looked at his surroundings again. "Wait, what is going on?"

"I'm the one who summoned you, so that means I'm your owner now. So can you shoot down that flying cat for me?" The doppelganger pointed up into the sky.

"Well, I…"

"What? Are you disobeying your owner?" The doppelganger stared right at Sagittarius.

"Even if you have the same body and powers, you are not Lucy!" Sagittarius used all his power to resist the doppelganger's control. It was not enough however, as he found himself pointing his bow at Charle. "Even though I know this…"

"Sagittarius, forced closure!" Lucy swiped her key, but was surprised when nothing happened.

"Not going to work. I summoned him, after all. Only I can do a forced closure," explained the doppelganger cockily. "Now, hurry up and shoot that cat"

A figure walked from the forest toward the fight. She had a big fur coat on, with barely anything covering her chest. "Oh, don't worry about her. Now that we've found Nirvana, that kid's role is over."Seeing the sight of her owner, the Doppelganger reverted back to its original forming, and thus ending the summoning of Sagittarius. In its place, two tiny blue figures danced happily in the air. "Hi Lucy! Angel is here."

"You're one of Oracion Seis." Lucy remembers seeing her at the earlier fight, although she didn't really see how she attacked.

"Yup, and Gemini here can copy the body, thoughts, and powers of their opponents completely. I'm a Celestial Wizard too."

"A Celestial Wizard? Just like me then…" Lucy looked at her surroundings. Natsu and Hibiki can't fight anymore. She was the only one left and had to do something. There was a stream next to her, filled with plenty of water. Even if Gemini could control her spirits, it would be no use against her most rebellious. This was a tactic she had used plenty of times.

"I would like those keys of yours," said Angel. It was super lucky of her to find somebody with so many gold keys. "I'm going to wipe you out and take your Spirits."

"I won't let you do that." Lucy pulled out a key from her pouch. "**Open, Gate of the Water Bearer**, Aquarius!" A beautiful mermaid appeared from the stream, causing waves to ripple from the center.  
>"Gemini, forced closure."<p>

Lucy pointed at Angel and ordered Aquarius, "Get her! I don't care if I get swept away in it."

"That's what I intended from the start," replied Aquarius. Aquarius didn't like Lucy very much and hated her even more whenever Lucy summoned her. "I'll blow everyone away!"

"**Open, Gate of the Scorpion, Scorpio**." A man with red and white hair appealed and crossed his hands in a pose and announced his appearance.

Aquarius lost all thoughts of attacking and squealed like a fan girl. "Scorpio!"

"We are! How've you been, Aquarius?" Scorpio already wrapped his arm around Aquarius who was  
>hugging his chest. "It's been a while, yeah!"<p>

"I was so lonely." Aquarius voice seemed to have changed completely. What was once laced with anger turned soft and gentle. She even added fake sobs.

"Don't tell me. That boyfriend you were talking about…" Lucy finally made the connection.

"Yup, this is him." Aquarius had both of her hands on her cheeks in an attempt to cover the blush she had.

"We are, nice to meet you, Aquarius's owner." Scorpio looked like he belonged more in a metal band or a gang then a Zodiac Spirit.

"Ahh! And what is this doing to Aquarius's character?" Lucy barely recognized her own spirit now.

In response, Aquarius whispered out a threat to Lucy. "Try saying anything bad about Scorpio, you won't recover from my attack, got it?"

"Yes." Lucy could only back off in fear from that threat as Scorpio and Aquarius disappeared together back while holding hands to the Spirit World.

"A little girl that doesn't even understand the relationships between Spirits," said Angel as she kicked Lucy in the head, sending her underwater. "Can't beat me!"

Lucy was at lost; one of her most powerful spirit was easily sent back. She thought of all her spirits, and remembers once last ace she has – the most powerful spirit. The golden key in her hand glowed, and as if reading her thought, summoned Leo without the need for the incantation.

"Your prince has arrived." Leo crossed his arms and stared confidently at Angel.

"Please, if you don't defeat her, then we will…" Lucy pointed at Angel desperately.

"Don't worry."

Angel, in response, giggled a little. The spirits Lucy had in her possession just seemed to get better and better. "Perhaps I didn't tell you? The relationships between Spirits are important." She took out a gold key of her own and chanted, "**Open, Gate of the Ram, Aries**."

A small girl with horns on her head appeared. "I'm sorry, Leo."

"Aries, Leo, Karin's spirits." Hibiki watched in shock from the sidelines.

"Don't be so surprised. I've taken all of the spirits of the ones I killed. I'm going to take your keys too," said Angel.

"Karin, it's her fault. My love… It's these celestial wizards fault." Hibiki noticed the dark thoughts  
>forming in his head. "I have to stop this. I can't let Nirvana take control of me."<p>

"Leo, you can go back if you want." Lucy knew Leo wouldn't want to fight against Aries.

"Don't be saying such things, Lucy. We will protect our owner, with our pride as spirits!" Leo and Aries would not let simple emotions stop them from their duties. It was a mistake they won't make again.  
>Their fists glowed as they lunged at each other. Both of them were parrying each other's blow. Leo, however, as a spirit designed for fighting, started to gain the upper hand.<p>

"As expected, Leo is strong. However…" Angel took out a silver key and made a quick swipe. "**Open, Gate of the Chisel, Caelum**."

A small robotic creature appeared next to Angel. At the front, two metal coverings started to split open, revealing a ray cannon inside. As Caelum prepared to fire, it made enough noise to catch Lucy's attention. What she saw though made her eyes go wide. "Simultaneous summoning?"

Angel laughed at Lucy's shock. "Of course. Karin may not have been powerful enough to do multiple summoning, but I have more than enough magical power. Caelum, fire."

"Watch out!" Lucy's warning came too late, however, as the beam traveled straight through the shoulder of Aries and into the chest of Leo.

"Sorry, Lucy." Unable withstand his injuries anymore, Leo disappeared back into the spirit world alongside Aries.

Lucy felt anger rise in her as she looked at Angel. It was one thing to be using Spirits relationships against each other, but to fire and shoot her own spirit was unforgiveable. "Release Aries from her contract."

Angel could barely comprehend the words that just came out of Lucy's mouth. "Huh? Could you repeat that again? I don't think I heard you correctly."

"Release Aries from her contract. You don't deserve to be her owner. Don't you see her suffering?"

"You're joking right? My spirits are just tools. Besides, they will heal back to full health in the spirit world in time." Angel couldn't believe the nerve of the girl. Aries was a key she earned. She won't be dropping the contract just like that. Angel took out a gold key again and Gemini answered her call without an incantation. "Gemini, finish her." Gemini turned into a replica of Lucy and picked up Caelum as it morphed into a large sword.

Lucy dropped down in tears as she heard Angel's answer. Spirits were her friends, her companions. She couldn't bear to see them get hurt like this, but she was out of power. She had failed her task and couldn't protect Leo and Aries. After she was down, Hibiki and Natsu would be next. In their downed state, they won't be able to handle Angel. After that, Wendy would be taken down as well. All she wanted was the power to protect her friends. To protect. To protect. These words boomed in Lucy's head. Despite being low on magical power, Lucy instinctively moved her hand into her key pouch.

"She really does care for us…" Gemini had stopped midway in its attack. Being in Lucy's form, it could pick out her thoughts, even if it was only a little. The doppelganger could tell Lucy treated Spirits as friends and it drained the strength out of Gemini.

Lucy reached into hey key pouch, even though she didn't have a spirit that could handle this situation. In a miraculous moment though, a crimson key appeared in Lucy's hand. The end she was holding was the shape of a shield, but the entire key looked more like a sword. When Lucy grabbed onto the key from the opened metal box, an incantation came to her naturally. "**Open, Gate of the Root**" Without even thinking, she recited it, causing her usual blue magic circle to appear. However, the result was not what she was expecting. Despite being low on magical power, Lucy still had enough power to use one or even two gold keys. It wasn't enough. The magical circle continued to get larger as more energy was fed into it, but it wouldn't stop growing. At this rate, she was going to be drained dry before the summoning was complete.

Angel was a little shaken with what was going on. Whatever Lucy was summoning, it was big. She had never even heard of a red key before. Gemini also seemed to be frozen in fear and wasn't attacking. The only chance Angel had was to attack Lucy before she finished her summoning as it still seemed to be gathering power. Luckily, Caelum was basically just a robot and didn't have emotions such as fear. She was about to order Caelum to fire at Lucy until she saw a shadow creep up behind Lucy. "Oh my! Did your friend fall to Nirvana?"

Hibiki gave an evil grin as he heard Angel. In truth, he had come very close to falling into darkness. However, seeing Lucy's determination filled his heart with light once more. Quickly, he clasped both of his hands on Lucy's ears. "**Connection established**."

"Huh?" Lucy was still frozen in her spot, holding out the red key. Her senses were dropping as she lost more and more power. A wizard's magical power was the equivalent to their life. Losing it would be disastrous. Despite her worries, she felt a bit of comfort when Hibiki came up behind her. "Hibiki…"  
>"Don't worry, Lucy. You need to be more careful with what you decide to summon something like this next time." Hibiki's eyes glowed yellow as he concentrated. "Mana Transference, thirty-two percent. Thirty-eight percent, forty-six percent."<p>

Lucy felt her power coming back with every second. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew Hibiki was behind it somehow. Wind and debris started to get picked up as the magical circle was close to completion. The water in the stream seemed to split at the power radiating from the key.  
>"It's useless! It doesn't matter what you plan on summoning, it's no use. Caelum, prepare to fire." Gemini returned to its original form as Caelum shifted back into firing mode. On command, power started to gather around the cannon.<p>

"Mana Transference, complete. The rest, I'll leave to you." Hibiki's hands fell from Lucy's head as he collapsed into the stream in fatigue.

"**Guardian!"**The summoning was completed.

A white glow could be seen as the magic circle disappeared. Standing in the center of it was a tall white haired man. He had a red coat on him and black armor underneath. His skin was tanned and eyes were a dull grey. He turned around, facing a young girl with yellow hair sitting in the shallow water. "Are you my master?"

"Yes." Lucy answered without thinking. It was a very strange experience, almost as if she wasn't in control. That was all the confirmation needed for now as the man quickly traced a sword to deflect a blast that came from his right. He turned to find the source of the attack, and found a machine with a girl standing next to it and two blue little creatures floating in the air.

Angel shook her head in disbelief. The spirit that Lucy just summoned managed to deflect Caelum's full powered blast as if it was nothing. However, there was a reason she was a member of Oracion Seis. She had trained until Gemini could copy anybody, even without touching them. Even if Gemini could not win the fight, it could at least battle the opponent to a standstill. After all, they would have the same ability. The winning factor would come down to Caelum, which was the reason she made sure she could summon simultaneously. "Gemini, do it."

The man's eyebrow raised a little as it saw Gemini changing into an exact replica of him. In response, he traced two swords – one white and one black- into each hand. The doppelganger mimicked this action. "Oh ho, a copycat here. How interesting…"

Gemini tried to read into this person's past thoughts, but it came up empty. It didn't make any sense at all. It had no time to ponder this though when the man charged straight at it with a sword in each hand. "Who the hell are you?"

"Guardian." With a mighty swing, Guardian destroyed the two swords the fake was holding. Taking the opening, he sent a kick straight into Gemini's chest.

Wiping the blood coming out of its mouth, Gemini managed to splutter out, "How?"

Guardian walked up calmly toward his opponent. "You may have copied my body and abilities, but you could never hope to understand the depth of my mind and soul."

Angel knew Gemini was fighting a losing battle now. She had to change the tide somehow. "Caelum f-" She was cut off midway as a white sword was thrown, spinning in a perfect arc before going straight through the center of Caelum. An explosion was created, sending Angel across the bank and into unconsciousness. The silver key cracked into multiple pieces - signifying the complete destruction of Caelum.

By now, Guardian was standing right in front of Gemini, with his remaining sword held high above his hand. "This is the end."

Lucy watched in fright as she saw how merciless Guardian was. He destroyed Caelum without a second thought. When she saw Guardian holding up a sword in front of Gemini, she knew what she had to do. "Guardian, stop!"

The black sword stopped a mere inch from Gemini's face. Taking the time granted, Gemini quickly vanished back into the spirit world. Guardian's eyes narrowed a little as he looked at Lucy exhausted body. There were things that needed to be said, but it had to wait. "I'll return another time." He disappeared in a bright flash.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes**

_I've basically completely deleted the entire first chapter, and started at chapter 2. This should've gotten a good 5k words out of the way so hopefully it's not as wordy and filler filled as before. Anyways, I am so terrible at beginning a story. In this chapter, I used scenes that was anime only for Fairy Tail. So if you are a manga only reader, than you might consider watching episode 72-74 ( I think its around that) to understand the scene better. It's not really necessary though as it's not too important. Anyways, I know this chapter was a little shorter, but I wanted to fix the beginning too. I probably won't update for at least another week or two due to final exams and all that, so that's another reason why I wanted to get this out._

* * *

><p>Chapter 2 – End of Oracion Seis<p>

Lucy stared at the gigantic lacrima in front of her. It must've been at least thirty times the size of her - there was no way she could destroy it. When the group split up earlier, she realized they were one person short of destroying all six lacrima in order to stop Nirvana. Despite her exhaustion, she pulled her hand up and volunteered to destroy one. Now that she was actually faced with the task, Lucy slumped down onto a wall and muttered, "It's useless; I can't do this."

Happy walked around Lucy in with pity and sadness. He watched how hard Lucy worked to get to this room, crawling step by step, and getting up whenever she fell. However, even he could tell how hopeless it would be for a person that could barely stand to destroy this lacrima. She still hasn't recovered fully from the fight against Angel and different opponents just came one after another afterwards. Her magical energy must be close to zero if it was affecting her physical movements like this. Happy gave Lucy a reassuring nudge. "Don't worry Lucy, just count on me!" Flaring up his **Aera **magic, Happy flew up and rammed his head straight into the lacrima.

"Happy! Don't!" Lucy was too late though, as the impact had already been made. Barely a dent was even made on the lacrima but Happy was already flying back down, preparing for the next charge.

Happy chuckled weakly next to Lucy, "Hey. That was just a test run, okay? Besides, the designated time still hasn't been reached. I'm just weakening the stupid ball for my ultra-super attack I'll use later." He took off flying once more, hitting the lacrima as hard as he could; but, this time Happy could no longer keep his energy up and started drifting down like a leaf.

"No!" Lucy burst into tears at Happy's falling form. This was all her fault. If she wasn't so weak, Happy wouldn't have made his desperate gambit. She tried her hardest to run up and catch Happy in midair, but her legs were still not responding properly. She wasn't Erza, who was strong beyond imagination. She couldn't even hold a candle to Natsu, who would win despite any conditions he might have. She was just an ordinary Celestial Mage with above average magical power. The red key in her pouch started to glow brightly as Lucy continued to cry. "All I want is the power to at least protect my friends…"

As if hearing her call, a white haired man materialized in front of her, with his red cloak billowing behind him from the magic residue in the air. Without a moment's hesitation, he leapt forward, catching Happy's left foot just before he reached the ground. In a calm stride, the man knelt in front of Lucy, "Did you call, master?"

Lucy watched the scene in front of her in shock. "Y-you're the spirit from before." Lucy creased her eyebrows in confusion. Last time, the energy it took to summon him was astronomical. However, all she felt right now was a tiny drain from her reserves. "But how? I didn't summon you this time."

The man stood up now, after carefully setting down the blue cat on the floor. "I came through the gate with my own power. I heard your call, so I came. I am your shield and sword for now, and will protect you to the best of my ability."

Lucy nodded her head in acknowledgement. She had no knowledge on the existence of red keys, and their behaviors cannot be predicted. There was a more pressing issue on hand right now. "Guardian, do you see that lacrima up there?"

"If by lacrima you mean the large gray sphere, than yes I do." The spirit cocked his head up and stared at the massive object.

"Could you destroy that for me please? It must be destroyed in exactly seventeen seconds." The internal timer was still clicking in Lucy's head from Hibiki's magic.

"I can try, but I cannot guarantee my success. My power is almost completely gone as a result of me crossing the gate, and the tiny stream of energy I am receiving from you are all being used in keeping my existence on this plane. In addition, I do not know how tough the lacrima's defenses are."

Lucy couldn't tell for sure, but she thought her spirit almost seemed to be sarcastic in his statement. "Don't worry about me; take as much energy as you can from me. Just destroy that thing. There's only four seconds left."

"As you wish." Channeling prana throughout his body, Guardian reinforced his body to the limits. His speed, strength, senses, and durability were all increased multiple times. With a single leap, Guardian covered the distance between Lucy and the lacrima. He paused for a moment on top of the lacrima as he waited for the last second to pass, before destroying it with a single punch.

Lucy was stunned at the display of strength. It was easily on par with Taurus or Leo. Not to mention that speed of his, not even Cancer could move that fast. "Amazing…"

Without warning, the spirit jumped back by Lucy's side and grabbed her by her waist on one arm and holding Happy by the neck with his other hand. "There's no time, this place is collapsing. We must go before I am out of energy." With another reinforced dash, Guardian found a small hole that has been created as the roof started to collapse. Curling his body almost into the shape of a cannon ball, the three made it out of the room before it was completely destroyed. With a graceful step, the spirit landed carefully on to a patch of grass, where a woman with red hair was already standing. As Guardian let Lucy slowly get out of his grasp and onto the floor, he said, "I'm sorry I cannot stay any longer." Lucy had no more power that she could feed to him. As soon as Lucy got her balance back on the ground, the spirit vanished in a bright flash.

Erza watched the strange man with her guard up at first, but relaxed once she saw the familiar glow that Lucy's spirits have when the move back and forth from the celestial world. Whoever the new spirit Lucy had was, he was without a doubt strong. The spirit held himself as a trained warrior, and seemed to have been able to completely grasp his surroundings. Even while carrying Lucy and Happy with both his arms, he had no openings. "Lucy, is that a new spirit of yours?"

"Huh?" Lucy snapped her head to face Erza. She was still in a daze after the leap from the Nirvana. "Oh, yeah. He's Guardian."

"I see…" Erza grew silent in thought. She could normally gauge how strong somebody is, and if that new spirit is under Lucy's control, then she has made an amazing leap in power.

"Oi! Did all of you make it out okay?" Gray ran down the field when he saw Lucy and Erza together. Ichiya was also next to him.

"How are you doing, my honey?"

Erza ignored Ichiya's comments completely and made a headcount. "We are still missing-"

From the side, Jura, Wendy and Charle started running toward the group. Jura was the first to speak up. "Is everyone safe?"

"The he-cat too." Charle added when she didn't see the cat flying around. What she found was that the cat was still alive, but lying on the ground with a big red bump on his head. "How ungraceful."

"Where are Natsu and Jellal?" Wendy couldn't see the two anywhere in the group.

Ichiya placed his hand on the top of his forehead and glanced side to side in rapid succession. "I don't see him anywhere. He must be still inside!"

"No way," said Lucy. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Natsu, hurry up and come out!"

"That stupid piece of flame. What is taking him so long," said Gray. Everybody started to grow nervous at his absence. Nirvana has completely collapse already, and if he's not out then he's either extremely injured or dead.

Suddenly, from beneath the ground, Hot Eye popped out, holding Natsu and Jellal in both arms. "Love will save your friends!" After Nirvana caused him to change sides, he has become an invaluable ally.

"Jeez, making us worry like that." Gray let out a rare smile when he saw Natsu. Wendy immediately ran up to hug the survivors. The group laughed lightheartedly at the atmosphere. Their mission was complete, and everybody returned safely.

Their celebration was short-lived though, as sounds of footstep started to grow louder every second. Marching up to the group, there were hundreds of Rune Knights dressed in their standard uniforms with blank expressions – usually a sign for trouble. In the front, their leader shifted his glasses a little and read off an elegant parchment. "By Orders of the Mage Council, we are here to apprehend several members from your party."

-000-

In the end, each group had to go back to their own respective guilds in a gloomy mood. Jellal and Hoteye were locked up by the magic council, despite the support they gave against Oracion Seis. However, that turn of event was not completely unexpected, as they were wanted criminals after all. What was more surprising was what happened at Cait Shelter. It turns out the guild master was an incredibly old mage that has passed away, and remained in this world only to guard Nirvana. With Nirvana's destruction, he no longer had a purpose and had to move on to the next world. That left Wendy and Charle alone, as the only guild members not created by Guild Master Roubal. Perhaps the only good news to this event was the new celestial keys Lucy managed to obtain.

"**Open, Gate of the Twins, Gemini**." Two small figures popped out and floated around in Lucy's apartment. Their appearances were very similar, but their clothes were put on as mirror images of each other, with one wearing blue and the other wearing orange. The only other noticeable difference between the two was their mouths were twisted in either a "V" shape or an upside down "V."These were the strongest spirits Angel had, and they had decided to become Lucy's spirit when Angel was arrested by the Magic Council. "Are you ready for our contract?"

"Yes." The twin spirits chimed together. The spirits mirrored each other's movements and danced around in a circle around Lucy.

"Alright then. Which days can I summon you?" Lucy took out a notepad and pen from her pocket. Although she always memorizes the days she can summon her spirits, it never hurts to have a reminder.

The blue spirit with the "V" shaped smile said, "Gemi likes days that burns and are hot."

"Mini likes days with trees and soil."

Lucy jotted down their statements as soon as they were said. Each spirit initiated their contract differently. Some were easy to understand, like Virgo who just told her straightforward. Other's like Taurus forced her to spend time with each other in order to figure out the best days. Plue went through an elaborate dancing to get his point across. Aquarius told her to not summon her unless she wanted to be blown away. "Hmm, a riddle huh?"

"Yes, yes." The twin spirits bobbed up and down in the air. They seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Lucy thought for a short moment, before snapping her fingers. It was very simple. If one just thought about how the days of the week were written out in kanji, they'd be able to realize that each day represented. "Ah ha! This is easy. So Gemi likes Tuesday and Sunday, and Mini likes Thursday and Saturday." She watched her spirits nod in affirmation. "So does that mean I can summon you all four of those days?"

"No." Gemi swirled around in another circle, before stopping behind Lucy's head.

"That's not right." Mini stayed floating right in front of Lucy.

"I hate Tuesday/Thursday and Saturday/Sunday," said both spirits at the same time. Lucy's head visibly slumped at this proclamation. It must've been too much to hope for a strong spirit such as Gemini to agree to be summon four days a week. Gemi and Mini weren't done yet though and continued, "But you can summon us on the other three days."

Lucy wasted no time and quickly scribbled down the dates onto her notepad. "Really? That means I can summon you on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Yes!" The two spirits nodded once more in affirmation and disappeared together in a puff. Lucy was quite happy at the turn of events. Even though she didn't get four days, three days was still a lot. Considering the fact they just met, this was likely going to increase substantially as their relations grow better. One down, three more to go. Lucy took a deep breath as she prepared to summon another zodiac spirit.

"**Open, Gate of the Scorpion, Scorpio!"**

This time a man with extremely tan skin appeared. His hair was colored red on one half, and white on the other. Swishing slowly behind him was a huge tail that looked like it could destroy Lucy's apartment in a single swing. "Yo, yo, Aquarius's owner." Scorpio crossed both his hands together and made a strange hand sign on each hand. "Or wait, you're my owner now too. We are!"

Lucy backed up a little while chuckling softly. "Um, are you ready to create our contract now?"

"Of course! I'll let you pick which days yourself. No more than four days a week though."

Lucy almost made a victory sign right then. "Sweet. How does Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday sound to you?"

"Mmm, I don't like not having my weekends off, but it will work out." Lucy smiled happily. This was perfect. Scorpio managed to cover all the days she won't be able to summon Gemini. With this, the variety of spirits she can summon everyday has changed dramatically. Scorpio held his hand out and cut Lucy out of her thoughts as he continued, "But! You must agree to allow Aquarius and I go on a three week vacation. That means no summoning us or the deal is off."

"But three weeks is so long!" Lucy pouted a little. Not only would she not be able to summon Scorpio, but Aquarius too. "Can we shorten that to two weeks?"

Scorpio placed one of his arms on his chin for a moment as if in thought. "No deal. Aquarius and I plan on going onto a sort of practice honeymoon now that we can visit each other more freely." Scorpio watched the conflicted expression on Lucy's face and decided to make his offer a little better. "I'll tell you what; I'll convince Aquarius to allow you to summon her on Saturdays if you agree."

"Deal," Lucy answered immediately. If she could even have one day where Aquarius might be obedient, then it would be worth it. With a firm handshake, the pact was sealed.

"I'll see you around than, Owner." Scorpio gave a mock salute before disappearing into the spirit world.

Lucy was happy. All the contracts were going by smoothly. Everything was just so surreal right now. Out of the twelve gold keys in the world, she managed to collect so many of them already. When she first joined Fairy Tail, she only had three keys. Within a year though, this number tripled and she had nine out of the twelve. She pulled out the last gold key and swiped it slowly in the air.

"**Open, Gate of the Ram, Aries!"** A pink cloud of smoke filled the room as the spirit was summoned. She had pink hair and on her head were two distinctive horns.

However, unlike the other two spirits, she seemed much shyer. Within the short period of time she was summoned, she glanced around the room frantically at least over a dozen times. Each time she made eye contact with Lucy, her gaze shifted downwards immediately. "Fuuuu…"

Lucy raised an eyebrow at this last spirit. The sound she just made was just strange. "Aries, I summoned you here so we can create our contract."

"Oh!" Aries's eyes brightened up immediately when she heard Lucy's voice. "Oh, um…."

Lucy sighed at this spirit's timid behavior. "Which days can I summon you?"

"Days? Oh!" Aries made a quick thought in her head. "Any day will be fine besides Sunday."

Jackpot. This was unbelievable. The only other spirits she had that allowed her to summon them that many days was Virgo and Leo. Even Taurus allowed only five days. "That's awesome! So every day besides Sunday, huh?" Lucy finished writing this down on her notepad. In her excitement, she almost forgot.

"Yes." Aries looked around Lucy's room uneasily once more. "If there's nothing else, I would like to leave now."

"That's fine. Thanks for the help, Aries!" Aries blushed a little at the comment. It's been a long time since an owner has treated her like this. She raised her hands a little and gave a wave, before quickly returning to the Celestial World.

"Ah, I'm tired," said Lucy toward nobody in particular. As soon as Aries disappeared, Lucy quickly laid down on her bed with both her arms spread wide. "All that's left is…" In Lucy's right hand was the mysterious red key. Just holding the key felt different from any other key she had ever felt before. However, summoning Guardian will probably have to wait another day. She just finished summoning three Zodiac Spirits, and to summon this last one would be pushing it. In fact, judging by the power she needed when she first used the key, she probably couldn't summon Guardian even if she wanted to. It was ridiculously powerful.

It was getting late, but Lucy had one more thing she had to do before going off to bed. Taking out a nice sheet of paper and an envelope, Lucy went to her desk and started to write.

_ Dear Mama, _

_ I know it's been a while since I last wrote. About a week ago, Fairy Tail and three other guilds fought against Oracion Seis. Don't worry though, we defeated all their members and destroyed this evil magic that they were planning to unleash. During those fights though, I met another Celestial Wizard. After a lot of different things happening, I managed to get three new gold Zodiac keys. In fact, I just made a contract with all of them today! One of them is the Twin Spirit, Gemini. They are absolutely adorable. If it wasn't for the fact they tried to kill me not too long ago, I might've pinched them on their cheeks. Another one is Scorpio. He's just… Well, let's not talk about him. The last one is Aries. She is super cute, but a little shy. I was really surprised when she said she would let me summon her for six days. _

_ Mama, there's one more thing I almost forgot to tell you. I got this crazy powerful red key. I'm not really sure how I should approach it, but I'll try to make a contract with it tomorrow. It seemed very obedient for some reason already, almost like Virgo. But the truth is, I'm scared. He was the one that beat Angel. When I watched him from behind, it was scary. I don't really know how to explain it but it was like everything just froze. He protected me later on after that battle and destroyed the lacrima I was supposed to, but I'm still not sure how I should feel about him. Anyways, I'll write again soon._

_Love, _

_Lucy Heartfillia._

Lucy sealed the letter in the envelope, and placed it with the rest of her stash. Pulling down on the cord, Lucy turned off the lights off in her room and drifted off to sleep.

-000-

_The Next Day_

Lucy gripped the red key in her hand tightly. This was it, the moment she has been waiting for. In truth, she hasn't been able to sleep all night as she thought about this. She stuck her hand out and let her magical energy wrap around the key. The movement she went through was a little different than usual. Normally, when she summoned one of her Zodiac spirits, she made a quick swipe in the air in various angles depending on the key. However, with this key, she started to turn it in the air – just like one would to open a door.

"**Open, Gate of the Root,"** muttered Lucy. Her concentration slipped for a slight moment as she started to regret summoning in her room. Papers were flying everywhere as wind started to pick up from the magical pressure in the air, and once again a large blue magic circle was created. "**Guardian!"**

Surprisingly, rather than being summoned in front of her, Guardian was sitting on top of her bed. "It's about time you summoned me." Guardian lifted up one of his arms and stared at it for a moment. "And look, you managed to summon me with only your own power too."

Lucy was actually panting slightly from the exertion. She didn't notice it at first, but this spirit's tone was really annoying. What happened to a calling her master? Not that she would really want him to call her that though. "So, what are you?"

"Straight to the point, I like that." Guardian put on a small smirk. "To be honest, I'm not really sure. I've never been summoned in this manner before you."

"Huh?" That was not an answer Lucy was expecting. She was hoping he would tell her he was some kind of rare spirit that she managed to summon or something along those lines.

"I guess you could call me a Heroic Spirit, although that's not completely right anymore."

"A Heroic Spirit? What's that?" asked Lucy. This was all very new to her, and she loved new knowledge.

"A Heroic Spirit is a being that has completed some sort of great accomplishment in life, and their souls move outside of the cycle of transmigration." Guardian recited his textbook answer. "They used to be remaining in a place named the Thrones of Heroes, but that place is…different now."

"I see. And you are one of these spirits?"

"Yes."

"So you used to be human?"

"Yes. A very long time ago at least."

"And there are more like you?" asked Lucy. If there were more red keys like his, than she may have just gotten a new goal after she finish collecting all the Zodiac keys.

"Yes, there are a few left besides me." Guardian's furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "Though, they cannot reach this world anymore. To my knowledge at least."

Lucy decided to change the subject. For some odd reason, talking about other Heroic Spirits seems to dampen Guardian's mood. It was as if just by talking about his origins was bring up painful memories. It was probably not her place to continue asking. "So, shall we complete our contract now?"

Guardian's demeanor changed as he stood up from Lucy's bed and walked in front of her. "My apologies, I did not realize our contract was not complete." This is the third time he's been summoned to this world after all.

"Oh, no problem. So what days can I summon you?" Lucy expertly took out her trusted notepad.

"Days?" asked Guardian in a questioning tone. What kind of question was that?

"Yes. Like Monday, Tuesday, and so on," elaborated Lucy. This spirit seemed clueless on how a contract with a Celestial Wizard works.

"I do not really understand. I would have thought you would just summon me when I am needed. Is there any reason why you wouldn't?"

Lucy didn't have to think much to answer this question. It was obvious. "Of course! Spirits are not tools for the mage, but rather partners. It would be violate every rule of a Celestial Wizard to break this partnership and attempt to use a spirit as a tool. That is why we form a contract that the spirit agrees to -along with days they would be willing to be summoned. I am forcibly summoning you from your home in the Celestial World, right?"

"No, there will be no need for such conveniences for me. Besides, the fact that I was summoned means bad things are about to happen in this world. I have a good feeling what is happening, and if my feelings are true, then things must not stay on the course they are. The catastrophe two thousand years ago must not happen again. Summon me when you need to."

"Catastrophe? Wh-," Lucy was cut off in her question when a large explosion was heard outside her window. Right on the outskirt of the city was a huge dragon. Its wings were spread out and there was a large red orb on its chest. Surrounding the dragon were various guild members fighting it. "Oh my goodness, what is that thing? Guardian, can you take me over there?"

"Yes." He opened Lucy's window, before jumping out while grabbing her waist. With inhuman speed, the two managed to make it to the scene very quickly.

"Lucy! You made it," said Erza. She was already dressed in her Heaven's Wheel Armor. "Natsu is trapped inside that dragon. Be careful." Without another word, she flew off into the air and started to attack the dragon from many different angles at once.

"Guardian." Lucy's voice has turned completely serious at this point. "Let's help out our comrades."

"Understood." Guardian was about to dash forward, to help Erza against the dragon, but a small lizard-man appeared in front of him. In response, he traced the same two swords he used against Angel – Kanshou and Bakuya- and entered into his combat stance. However, the lizard-man mimicked this action completely, including the tracing of the two weapons. "Another person that can copy my magic? This world's magic is strange." The two moved forward and clashed blades in the center. It seemed like they were equally match until Guardian said, "But, you are still no match for me." In a blink of an eye, the lizard-man was cut down in half and destroyed.

The other guild members, despite their own troubles, watched in awe at the man in red skewer down the lizard-man like it was nothing. Only Erza has been able to do something like that so far. "That's amazing Lucy."

Lucy tried to suppress a blush that was coming from the compliment, but failed to do so. "Nah…"

Happy took in his cue and chimed in, "You llllike him."

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the Celestial World, Leo could be seen pounding on a table screaming, "Love Rival!"<p>

* * *

><p>Guardian watched as two lizard-men tried to double team him. However, he never stopped his stride as he through both his swords. They curved in a perfect arc, slicing both of the monster's heads, before returning to Guardian's hands afterwards. As soon as the two monsters he destroyed disappeared though, five more appeared in front. "They just keep on coming, don't they?"<p>

However, at this point, two figures were preparing their own attacks from the top of a clock tower. Their hands were interlocked and they screamed together, "**Unison Raid!"** Geysers of water gushed out from the city, engulfing the entire area. Before they fell though, they were all frozen into ice and turned into sharp icicles. Each one of them fell at rapid pace, destroying every lizard-man that was out.

"I know this magical power!" said Lucy. "Gray, Juvia…"

"They ddddiiiddd it."

An intercom sound came from the dragon at that point. "Yes, yes, yes. However, you are too late. Magical power absorption, ninety-five percent."

There was one person that never stopped moving even at the display of Unison Raid though. It only took two swipes, but it sent the dragon crashing onto the floor. Both of its legs were completely severed. "Hmph, weak."

Daphne was typing frantically onto her user interface right now. Even with the regenerative powers of the dragon, this type of wound wasn't normal. She needed more power.

"Ahhhhh! Who are you calling weak?" screamed Natsu from inside the dragon. In his rage, he let out even more magical power than before.

"Yes, yes, yes. That's perfect. Now to redirect the power to regeneration…" Daphne continued to suck on Metamo, as she typed furiously on her interface. "Good. Keep letting out more power, Salamander."

"Is that all you got, squinty eyes?" Gray taunted Natsu even more. He was confident Natsu could destroy the dragon, he just needed the motivation.

Erza quickly understood Gray's plan and joined in. "You are not fit to be in Fairy Tail if you cannot even do this."

The dragon was hovering in the air now by flapping on his wings. While the legs were regenerating, a wound that big still needs time. Until then, they had to fly. In any case, these were all efforts of Daphne to use up all the magical energy Natsu was letting out, it didn't seem to end. Suddenly though, an entire wing was cut off, sending the dragon toward the ground once more. It was unknown whether or not Guardian understood Gray's plan, but he said in a monotone voice, "Trash."

"You bastard!" Natsu's flames were at maximum power now. His rage was at his fullest, and they couldn't be contained within the dragon.

"What's going on? His energy is exceeding the capacity that I can absorb!"

Makarov watched calmly at the scene. "Flames of emotion get stronger as Natsu gets angrier."

"This is the end!" Erza, in her purgatory armor, swung her blade at the red orb on the dragon. With it cracked open, Natsu was revealed inside, completely exhausted. Erza turned around to her guild members and shouted, "Everyone! Send Natsu some fire." She herself quickly changed into her flame empress armor.

"Heat Spell!"

"Fire Shot!"

"Fire Card."

The spells converged with each other and was sent straight at Natsu. The fire spread for a short moment, before getting sucked in completely. Flares of fire wisped around Natsu as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Thanks for the meal. Now that I've eaten I'm revved up!" He ran up Daphne and shouted, "**Karyu no Yokugeki!" **

"It's real… A dragon." Those were the last words of Daphne before she was sent flying off into the distance. The guild members cheered at their victory and even threw Natsu up in the air a couple of times.

Lucy walked up to Guardian and said, "Thank you so much. You can go back now if you want."

It didn't make sense to Guardian why Lucy wanted to send him back already, especially with the magical power it took to open the gate every time, but complied nonetheless. "Understood." With a flash, he disappeared back to his own world.


End file.
